Handia is a town, near the

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

Prayagraj Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrat ...

and a

nagar panchayat A nagar panchayat (town panchayat; ) or Notified Area Council (NAC) in India is a settlement in transition from rural to urban and therefore a form of an urban political unit comparable to a municipality. An urban centre with more than 12,000 ...

in the

Prayagraj district Allahabad district, officially known as Prayagraj district, is the most populous district of Uttar Pradesh state of India. The district headquarters is Allahabad which was renamed Prayagraj at the same time as the district was renamed. The D ...

of the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n state of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

Mythology

Handia was said to be named after

Hidimba Hidimba ( sa, हिडिम्ब, ) was a powerful demon king who is mentioned in the epic Mahābhārata. He was killed by Bhima and this is recounted in the 9th sub-parva (Hidimba-vadha Parva) of the Adi Parva. Death The demon Hidimba liv ...

. The Indian epic poem,

Mahabharat The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...

Lakshagraha Lakshagriha ( sa, लाक्षागृहम्, )) (The House of Lacquer) is a place mentioned in the ''Mahabharata'', one of the two major Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of History of India, ancient India, the oth ...

, is set at the bank of river

Ganga The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

in Handia.

Geography

Handia is located at . It has an average elevation of 92 metres (301 feet). It is part of an administrative area in India reachable on the G.T. Road (

Grand Trunk Road The Grand Trunk Road (formerly known as Uttarapath, Sarak-e-Azam, Shah Rah-e-Azam, Badshahi Sarak, and Long Walk) is one of Asia's oldest and longest major roads. For at least 2,500 years it has linked Central Asia to the Indian subcontinent. ...

)

National highways of India The National highways in India are a network of trunk roads owned by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. National highways have flyover access or some controlled-access, where entrance and exit is through the side of the flyover, at ...

. The main river running through the area is the

, passing five kilometers south of Handia's market.

Demographics

As of 2011 census, Handia had a population of 21,798, 11,493 of whom were males and 10,305 of whom were females. The population within the age group of 0 to 6 years was 3,494. The total number of literates in 2011 was 13,325, constituting 61.1% of the population, with 68.9% males and 52.5% females. The effective literacy rate of 7+ population of Handia was 72.8%, of which male literacy rate was 81.6% and female literacy rate was 62.9%. The

Scheduled Castes The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...

population was 3,010. Handia had 3133 households in 2011. As per the

2001 Census of India The 2001 Census of India was the 14th in a series of censuses held in India every decade since 1871. The population of India was counted as 1,028,737,436 consisting of 532,223,090 males and 496,514,346 females. Total population increased by 18 ...

, Handia had a population of 12681, with 52% males and 48% females. Handia had an average literacy rate of 52%, lower than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 63%, and female literacy is 59%. In Handia, 20.5% of the population was under 6 years of age as of 2001. Out of these populations, 98% lived in rural areas and the rest in urban areas. There were 2245 households in 2001. Handia assembly constituency has around 60,000

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...

s, 70,000 Binds coming under backward classes, 90,000

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

s, 40,000

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

s and 50,000

Yadav Yadav refers to a grouping of traditionally non-elite, Quote: "The Yadavs were traditionally a low-to-middle-ranking cluster of pastoral-peasant castes that have become a significant political force in Uttar Pradesh (and other northern state ...

Government and politics

Handia is one of the constituencies for assembly election of Allahabad district in state of Uttar Pradesh. As of 2012, there were 315994 voters registered in the Handia assembly, 56% being male, and 44% female.

Educational institutes

Educational institutes in the area include National Inter College, established in 1946, HMFA Engg. College organization PG College Handia, Maharshi Inter College, and Handia Polytechnic college. There is also an ayurvedic medical school in the region, named after

Lal Bahadur Shastri Lal Bahadur Shastri (; 2 October 1904 – 11 January 1966) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the 2nd Prime Minister of India from 1964 to 1966 and 6th Home Minister of India from 1961 to 1963. He promoted the White Re ...

References

{{Reflist Cities and towns in Allahabad district